The former Public Guardian and Trustee space at the southwest corner of the building has been boarded up and is undergoing interior demolition. The hoarding encompasses the mall entrance located beside it. Rumour has it that what will end up there is related to a retailer located currently at the opposite side of the Atrium.
 
On the east end of the building, Boathouse recently reduced their footprint, and the balance was just taken over by Long Tall Sally, which moved across the hall despite only renovating a year or so ago. Their previous space is of course adjacent to Muji, which (one can only speculate) might be looking to expand given its current size relative to locations at Yorkdale or elsewhere.

No obvious further developments regarding what’s happening with the southwest corner as mentioned above.
 
DowntownCoder said:
On the east end of the building, Boathouse recently reduced their footprint, and the balance was just taken over by Long Tall Sally, which moved across the hall despite only renovating a year or so ago. Their previous space is of course adjacent to Muji, which (one can only speculate) might be looking to expand given its current size relative to locations at Yorkdale or elsewhere.

No obvious further developments regarding what’s happening with the southwest corner as mentioned above.
Click to expand...

Both Boathouse and Long Tall Sally look to be settling in to their newly reduced spaces. The windows in the "new" LTS space are still covered with advertising posters from Boathouse. I wouldn't be surprised if Muji expands their current store into the now vacated Long Tall Sally on the other side of the wall. Perhaps the renovations on the southwest Bay & Dundas corner are for a "temporary" Muji store during renovations? Alternatively, it could be an additional Muji annex location. In Japan, Muji often has multiple locations specializing in different categories - Found Muji, Cafe & Meal Muji, Muji Books, Muji to Go etc.
 
soundmuseum said:
Both Boathouse and Long Tall Sally look to be settling in to their newly reduced spaces. The windows in the "new" LTS space are still covered with advertising posters from Boathouse. I wouldn't be surprised if Muji expands their current store into the now vacated Long Tall Sally on the other side of the wall. Perhaps the renovations on the southwest Bay & Dundas corner are for a "temporary" Muji store during renovations? Alternatively, it could be an additional Muji annex location. In Japan, Muji often has multiple locations specializing in different categories - Found Muji, Cafe & Meal Muji, Muji Books, Muji to Go etc.
Click to expand...

I would *love* to get Cafe/Meal Muji here but I think I am just dreaming.

AoD
 
Our suspicions have been confirmed: Muji will be renovating and expanding their current Atrium store into the adjacent former Long Tall Sally space at 20 Dundas West. The renovated former Public Guardian office at the southwest corner of the building (595 Bay) will become the temporary Muji store during the renovations. The store is slated to close for renovations on January 7 at 5pm.

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Glad to hear! MUJI's space wasn't sufficient and hasn't been, since day one. I hope the office expansion project is dead as proposed - the renderings in the project directory make me cringe.
 
Renovation and expansion of MUJI is under way into the old Long Tall Sally space at 306 Yonge.

Below on the concourse level, drywall hoarding has been built up around the Tim Hortons, removing the customer seating. This appears to be underneath the construction for MUJI, but I'm unsure if this is related at all.

The canopy overhanging the office entrance at 20 Dundas West has been removed and scaffolding is being built inside the lobby. I think H&R are expanding the 2nd floor over the existing two-storey lobby to achieve more retail space. I have heard that certain tenants on the 2nd floor have been asked to relocate to other areas of the building.

Edit: Here's a thought - could MUJI be expanding into a 2 level space? I can't figure out what other retail store could be located above them.

Looking at the revised construction plans for the building, it seems that there is a proposed new stairway entrance to Dundas station, subject to TTC approval. It's supposed to be where the Inuit/First Nations art store currently is located, exiting up to street level next to the existing fire doors beside the alley across from Forever 21. The current stairway at the northwest corner would be closed off and replaced by a cage door and grating on the street to maintain airflow to the station.
 
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It would be nice if they put a Miniso in atrium on Bay. Miniso is a Japanese store selling household, personal items for low prices. Somewhat comparable to a dollarama.
Went to one in Guelph little while back, where they have one of a handful of locations already in Ontario. Was very busy and really liked the quality and value they offer. Think they would be hit anywhere dt but here would be a good location with its proximity to other Japanese retail/food institutions
 
utwatch said:
It would be nice if they put a Miniso in atrium on Bay. Miniso is a Japanese store selling household, personal items for low prices. Somewhat comparable to a dollarama.
Went to one in Guelph little while back, where they have one of a handful of locations already in Ontario. Was very busy and really liked the quality and value they offer. Think they would be hit anywhere dt but here would be a good location with its proximity to other Japanese retail/food institutions
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Miniso is going into the Eaton Centre, councourse level, according to the Eaton Centre retail thread.

(And Miniso is about as Japanese as Swiss Chalet is Swiss...)
 
Skeezix said:
Miniso is going into the Eaton Centre, councourse level, according to the Eaton Centre retail thread.

(And Miniso is about as Japanese as Swiss Chalet is Swiss...)
Click to expand...

Actually Miniso probably have a better claim - the co-founder is Japanese. The only Swiss about Swiss Chalet is what? Lindt at this point?

AoD
 
utwatch said:
It would be nice if they put a Miniso in atrium on Bay. Miniso is a Japanese store selling household, personal items for low prices. Somewhat comparable to a dollarama.
Went to one in Guelph little while back, where they have one of a handful of locations already in Ontario. Was very busy and really liked the quality and value they offer. Think they would be hit anywhere dt but here would be a good location with its proximity to other Japanese retail/food institutions
Click to expand...

I was there too. I thought the store was going be like a cheap version of MUJI but most of the items in Miniso is for women and children. I know i won't be going back anytime soon.
 
Miniso is pretty cool. I went to one in Manila and the products were cute but overall pretty cheap. Felt more like a Japanese dollar store, no where near the quality of Muji.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Actually Miniso probably have a better claim - the co-founder is Japanese. The only Swiss about Swiss Chalet is what? Lindt at this point?

AoD
Click to expand...

Ha! Good burn on Swiss Chalet. But the reference to Miyake isn't that convincing. That's like saying the Tea Party faction in the States is Canadian because Ted Cruz had Canadian citizenship.

Miniso is just faux Japanese, designed to appeal to Chinese (and now Global) consumers with an aesthetic which sometimes apes Japanese chains but is created, generated and produced entirely in China. For the longest time, it was using Google translate and other tools to add Japanese labels to some of its goods, to give them the Japanese look (even though the resulting labels were gibberish). To stick with the analogy, at least Swiss Chalet has Lindt. Miniso has nothing that authentic about it.

Enjoy Miniso for what it is. But given the vast amount petro-chemicals required to produce all the plastic crap it sells, it's probably more accurate to call it a Saudi or Russian chain than a Japanese one.
 
A new escalator is being built adjacent to the Tim Hortons, connecting the concourse with the ground floor upstairs. That explains the hoarding around the store. Could this be a different exit to the street (instead of or complementing the planned stairs), or part of the MUJI renovation?

Scaffolding inside the 20 Dundas West entrance has now separated the second floor above the lobby. They have also taken down the wall behind where the concierge desk used to be, leading into the MUJI space.
 
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